Homeschooling during the summer

Since we had so many things go on this year, like welcoming our baby twins Hudson & Beckham!  We ran behind on school stuff, which is basically what has happened every year.  So I just stick to a similar school day routine even during the summer, kind of.

It is different because during the regular school year I just have Katy and Ava Marie home with me.  During the summer I also have Madyson & Mackenzie.  So we include them and just have them do things appropriate to their level of work.

Madyson works in a reading book I purchased at Costco from Sylvan Learning.  It is broken into 3 section, Spelling, Vocabulary and Comprehension.  We try to do one page from each of 2 sections every morning.  Last year she went to summer school at the public school.  She had 2 hours of reading help, 1 hour of art and 1 hour of swimming.  It was great but she really didn't want to go this year because she missed a lot of the stuff we did together as a family.

Ava Marie is also working on a workbook I got at Costco.  Since she is basically going into Kindergarten, I looked first at the Kindergarten books, but she already knows the stuff they had in there.  Letters, numbers, colors, etc.  She knows all of her letter both lowercase and capitals, and the sounds of the letters and some sight words.

So I just give her things to keep her busy for now, she loves to color.  And then when they are done we read together because that is where she really is, pre-reading.  I have a feeling she will be reading basic Level 1 books by the time school starts!

This was taken before Madyson Claire got her hair done!!

Ava marie kept looking at the pages and saying, "I already know this!"

Katy spends a lot of time in the kitchen.  She loves to bake and even though she doesn't actually like chocolate (I know, how can anybody NOT like chocolate?!).  She still makes a lot of chocolate goodies for the rest of us!! Yea!

Katy does 2 math lessons per day and then reads for at least an hour.  She is trying to keep up with Mackenzie who spends all of her extra time reading.

Mackenzie, you may remember, has been busy with a lot of rehearsals for her show Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  She is right in the center with the white headband on.  She really had a great time with this show and did a lot of reading backstage.  By the end of June she has read 12 books since school let out.  I am proud of her focus!  She loves mysteries!

4th of July 2013!

Happy 4th of July!!

This is our annual 4th of July on the Porch picture!  

Usually the girls all have matching shirts or dresses on.  But now that Katy and Mackenzie have grown out of the little girl sizes it is getting harder and harder to find matching clothes.

So thankful to God for my beautiful children!  So thankful for our brave soldiers who fought for our Freedom and are STILL fighting!  Praying for a peaceful 4th of July!  Except for tonight during the fireworks!

Here are some 4th of July on the Porch pictures from the past!

2009

2010

 I can't find the folder that has 2011 or 2012, but I will update this post later with more photos.

Now we are off to Black Bob Bay!  It is a local public pool that is also kind of a water park!  Our friend Karla is going to come and watch the babies while I take the girlies over there for some water fun!  

Then later we are going over to Michaels craft store so the girls can pick out some craft supplies for the newly cleaned up basement/art room!!  I will post pictures of that soon after we have organized all of the new supplies.

On The Menu for Tonight:  Lemon Chicken with Red, White & Blue Ravioli Stars and Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots sauteed with onions in olive oil.  For dessert we will be having fresh Blueberries and Strawberries over Vanilla Ice Cream!

For Nighttime Entertainment:  We will be driving over to the Great Mall of the Great Plains for Fireworks!!

I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July too!!  Go USA!!

In regards to the Paula Deen issue...

Read the article at this link first:The Paula Deen Incident: You should know all that is being alleged before defending her.


I have wondered about this whole situation since it started coming up in the news.  I am not one to get too political on my FB or even on my website.  

I am not a huge PD fan, I have watched her show on Food Network a couple of times, but I don't love the Southern Drawl that sounds a little put on to me.  But I didn't NOT like her.  I basically tuned out on most of the press...until I read the attached article.  

It isn't just what this gentleman says in his article that hits home for me.  It is the memory it brings back to me.  About 6 years ago I was involved in a Womens Sorority that was not affiliated with any colleges.  It was basically a way for women to get together and support each other, do service work and have some fun.  

I belonged to my group for about 5 years right up until I began my adoption journey.  I remember when I adopted my first 2 little girls, Katy and Madyson Claire, just after that I attended a day out shopping and lunch with my Sorority Sisters.  One lady was new, she had just moved into the area and was a longtime friend of our Chapter President.  She was from Oklahoma and was talking to the other ladies about growing up in the south.  

She told a story about the town she grew up in and mentioned an area of the town that had "Porch Monkeys".  I remember asking her to repeat herself.  In fact I think I asked her to repeat herself a few times and she finally said, "Yes, I said porch monkeys!  What do you call them?"

I remember I didn't answer her right away, I looked up and down the table we were sitting at to see if anyone else was really listening to this conversation besides me.  I remember several of the ladies looking away as I tried to catch their eye.  Did they not hear her?  Did I misunderstand what she was talking about?

"What is a Porch Monkey?"  I asked her.  Even though I was sure I already knew.  

"You know, black people!"  She spat back at me!

I know my face was flushed and my neck was hot.  I could hardly breathe, let alone get the next words out.  "Why would you say that?"  I shouted!  "Are you crazy?  My daughters are black!  I can't believe you would say that in front of me!"  I know I was standing up at this point, and one of the other ladies put her hand on my arm and told me to sit down and stop yelling.  I was flustered because I had expected the others to be as upset as I was...but they weren't.

I sat there, steaming mad, listening to them pick their conversations back up.  Not one of them looking in my direction or saying anything else to me again.  A little while later the woman who said those things left with her friend, our Chapter President.  Then the rest of us left to drive home.  I had ridden in a car with a few others, we got into the car and started driving.  No one said one word to me.

I, of course had no intention of being a part of their group anymore.  I was just so shocked at the raw form of racism that I had just witnessed.  I was, of course, very naive as that was not the last time I would witness racism. 

That woman reminds me very much of Paula Deen.  She felt that her upbringing, her Southern roots so to speak, entitled her to use that shocking insult.  So at this point I have to say, I don't care where you were brought up or how people spoke when you were a kid, in the dark ages!

Unless you just crawled out from under a rock and want to crawl back in there, you should NOT be using derrogatory names for ANYBODY!  

And if you do...then you will and should suffer the consequences!

Ignorance is not an EXCUSE!!

Madyson Claire's 9th Birthday

Saturday was Madyson Claire's 9th Birthday!  She was such a rolly polly baby!

This was her 1st Birthday Party.  We had it at my Mom's home in San Diego!  

She really enjoyed her smash cake!

This was her 4th Birthday Party.  We had a Princess Tea Party and it was very well attended

with 20 little Princess friends and all of her sisters!

This year Madyson choose to get her hair braided like her sister Katy.  

10 hours sitting in a chair folks!  That is dedication!

  We knew the Saturday of her birthday would be really busy because Mackenzie was appearing in the Gardner Community Theater production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Mackenzie had 2 shows that day and I just couldn't fit in a birthday party also!  So we planned one for the weekend before.

  Madyson choose a Pool Party theme.  And she invited just a few close friends.

  We took the girls up to our subdivision pool and they played for 2 hours, then we went back to our house for cake!  Everyone had a really great time and the party was just the perfect amount of time!  Katy did not get to come to the pool, because she volunteered to watch the babies so we had enough room in the van for all of the kids!

My niece Kinley with her bestie cousin Madyson!

The Cake!!  I copied it from a picture on Pinterest!  

It is supposed to be the beach!  But we could not find the paper umbrellas :(

The most important thing was that Madyson really enjoyed her party.  On her actual birthday she got to choose the breakfast :Blueberry Pancakes served with Apple Blueberry Juice.  And we went out for dinner to Pizza Hut because she likes their salad bar.  We were joined by my cousin Roland and his wife Saundra and my cousin Claire and her son Keenan.  Then we all went over to the theater at Gardner Edgerton High School to see Mackenzie in her musical!  It was a really fun night!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful 9 year old Madyson Claire!